Maybe, One Day
by Leandros87
Summary: Shadows engulfed her as she slunk through the alleys of the large city. The long, black cloak she wore made her almost invisible in the darkness of the night, making it easier to remain undetected. Alphard was on a mission. A mission without the rest of the Snakes. The most important mission of the year. (Caanaan X Alphard, Alphard-centric. This story might cause diabetes. Enjoy.)


**Note: **

To all those, whom I might have failed to thank personally for their review on "Never You", I apologize. I do read the reviews I get and I appreciate them, but sometimes I feel too socially awkward to send someone a PM saying "thanks for your review." I'm grateful for every constructive or simply friendly feedback I receive, so please don't get mad at me if I don't respond to them personally. It's just me being weird and it doesn't mean that I don't appreciate you having taken some moments of your time to tell me your opinion on my story. :) *bows* Arigatou & Gomen ne.

"Maybe, One Day" is indirectly related to "Never You", so in order to get a better understanding of the general motive why Alphard is doing what she's doing, you should probably read "Never You" before this one.

This being said, enjoy this little One Shot.

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**Maybe, One Day**

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Shadows engulfed her as she slunk through the alleys of the large city. The long, black cloak she wore made her almost invisible in the darkness of the night, making it easier to remain undetected. Her senses had kicked into overdrive. Upon every suspicious noise she heard, every person in the distance she saw getting just a step too close to her, she would hide, disappearing in the blackness, that embraced her. Like a cat she lurked and observed, waited until the potential danger was gone. She could not risk being noticed. The media had put her and the attacks she had organized in the spotlight lately, so she had to carefully watch every step she made. With people now knowing what she looked like, the risk of someone recognizing her was way too high to feel comfortable simply walking through the streets in a simple disguise. Tall, athletic, black hair, tan skin, gray eyes. Those weren't exactly features you would see in every Chinese woman. Absolute stealth was now the key to succeeding on this mission.

That's right, Alphard was on a mission. A mission without the rest of the Snakes. The most important mission of the year.

She was getting frustrated. Shanghai's streets were ridiculously busy, even at night. Vehicles, especially cabs and buses, still occupied the broad road she had to cross to get to her destination, there was no way around it. But no matter how long she followed the course of the road, she just didn't find a spot, which was free of cars or revellers, who either tried to find their way back home in their drunken stupor or looked for more bars and clubs to get wasted in. Alphard growled as she continued sneaking through the nearby alleyways. Of course, the year's most important mission just had to be on a Friday.

It wasn't until she had followed the street's course for almost an entire mile, that she had finally found a safe spot. The only two people there were a pair of completely plastered young men stumbling along the pavement, bawling what was barely recognizable as a song and laughing loudly about things the terrorist couldn't care less about. Acting quickly to not let this chance pass her by, Alphard forced her legs into a sprint. Her heart rate palpably picked up the moment she left the safe sea of blackness she had hidden in, suddenly becoming aware of how very visible she was in the light of the street lamps. Like a phantom, she rushed past the men just about two feet behind their backs before disappearing in yet another alley, immediately merging with the darkness, that flooded it.

A sigh of relief escaped Alphard's lips when she finally reached her destination. Since it was located in a rather quiet and peaceful neighborhood of the metropolis, there was nobody on the streets here anymore at this hour. She could relax a little now and focus on finishing the last part of the way as quietly as possible. Slowly, she approached the downspout of the multistory building. She took a last glance around the area and smirked when she noticed no lights being on anywhere in the houses near the one she stood in front of. _'Perfect' _the Snake leader thought before putting one partly gloved hand behind the downpipe, the other on its side and started pulling herself up on it. The moment her feet lost contact with the ground, she put both of them on the building's wall, one on each side of the pipe. Like this, she slowly, carefully, begun climbing, her gray gaze focused on a window on the third floor, that had been carelessly left open.

Gracefully and soundlessly, like a stalking feline, she slipped in through the open window, her lips immediately forming her trademark predatory smirk upon noticing her success of the small apartment's occupant still sleeping peacefully in their humble bed right next to the window. After just a few moments, this smirk softened and developed into a gentle smile. As the clouds outside made way for a majestic full moon, the scene of silvery rays falling gently on the beautifully peaceful face of a certain white haired girl sleeping in the bed, melted a part in Alphard's heart the terrorist usually denied to even have. With absolutely silent steps, she approached the bed and knelt down in front of it, reveling in the sight of the synesthete's relaxed expression.

Canaan was sound asleep, her even breathing and lack of movement indicating a calm rest without nightmares. Alphard suddenly became aware of her own heart pounding in her chest as if it was trying to break her ribs. With a touch so uncharacteristically gentle, she stroked a few misplaced strands of hair away from the sleeping girl's face and couldn't help letting her hand rest on Canaan's cheek for a few seconds. It wasn't until the rational part of her mind started working again and told her, that she must remain undetected, that she finally returned from her short trip on cloud nine. After all, she still had to complete the year's most important mission.

Reaching into one of the pockets on the inside of her cloak, Alphard pulled out a small packet, about the size of a cigarette pack, and placed it on the edge of Canaan's bed, just next to her pillow. Once more reaching into another pocket, what she now retrieved was a single, purple blossom of a hyacinth. The raven haired woman held the fragile flower part between her fingers for a few silent moments, suddenly seeming deep in thought. Pressing a soft kiss to the blossom's petals, she finally put the little thing on top of the packet. A quick glance at the wall clock in the small room made her lips yet again curl up into a smile. It was now just a few seconds after midnight. Almost in slow motion, the woman leaned in, making sure to keep her breathing low and steady and to avoid sudden movements to not wake up the synesthete. An ever so soft kiss was placed on Canaan's head before Alphard's lips hovered just above her ear, ready to say the words she had always made sure to say to the younger girl ever since they've known each other, every year on the same day.

"Happy birthday."

One last lingering glance and one last soft smile, then Alphard was out the window again, disappearing once more in the protective darkness of the night.

It was a few minutes after two in the night when nature's call woke Canaan up from her until then exceptionally peaceful sleep. Groaning in irritation, she pushed the pleasantly warm covers away and got up, reminding herself to drink less before hitting the sac. It wasn't until she returned from the bathroom that she noticed the two items on her bed. Her instincts immediately kicked in and she grabbed the Beretta from under her pillow, glowing red eyes scanning the room for any foreign presence. When she didn't find anything, she dropped her guard and warily grabbed the small packet and the hyacinth blossom from her bed. The girl stared at the blossom for a few moments, confused as to why it was there. When she took a closer look at the packet, she didn't know whether she should feel delighted or suspicious when she noticed, that it was a pack of strawberry flavored hard candy sticks – her favorite. Grinning, the bounty huntress decided that for now, she simply didn't care. She opened the packet to grab one of the sweet treats, her eyes widening a bit when she saw a folded piece of paper hidden in the packet. Curious, Canaan delicately pulled the paper out and unfolded it. The handwriting of the message written on it seemed oddly familiar to her, but the message itself confused her beyond measure.

_Happy Birthday._

_Maybe, one day, you'll consider it._

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**_Fin_**

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**End note: **

For those of you, who don't know much about flowers and their meaning: giving someone a purple hyacinth means you're asking for this person's forgiveness. What the note hidden in the packet meant is something I'll leave for you to interpret, though I don't think it's too hard to figure out.

I hope you enjoyed this little story. I recommend reading it again while quietly having an instrumental version of Madonna's "The Power Of Goodbye" playing in the background. I swear, it does wonders to the atmosphere :)

Thank you for reading.

- Leandros


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